The web giant said they had evidence of a “highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China,” and that ” a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.”

It is unclear that the human rights angle was a deciding factor, as Google claims the attacks also came against “at least twenty other large companies,” and that Google was working with them and “relevant U.S. authorities” in their defense.

“We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China,” Google added.

Meanwhile China’s top search engine, Baidu.com, has been shut down temporarily “due to external manipulation of its DNS in the U.S.,” says its spokesman. A group called the Iranian Internet Army is taking responsibility.

‘The World Trade Center was conceived by vested interests, promoted by pressure groups, brought into being by a handful of powerful men for reasons of monetary gain or personal pressure, and indirectly subsidized by the taxpayer’